The Pumpkin Man

Director - Ryan Sheets (The Pumpkin Man: Demon of Fall, The Letters of Wailing Creek)

Starring - Esteban Abanto, Matthew Beaton (Bloodshine, Human!), and Barbara Desa 

Release Date - 2023

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Some tales are better left untold!"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     Way back in September I started preparing for my October horror binge. I always try to sneak in as many horror or Halloween titles that I haven’t seen so I spend the month before ordering movies to add to my watch pile. I went to Scream Team Releasing’s website when I was ordering movies to snag some of the releases I haven’t seen yet. I bought The Barn Part 2, 10/31 Part 3, HeBGB TV, Beneath the Old Dark House, and The Pumpkin Man. I watched the four previously mentioned films during my October binge but I completely forgot about The Pumpkin Man. I was organizing my movies when I found the blu and realized I had fucked up. I decided to check it out instead of waiting until October of next year. 

      The film follows a teenage girl who is obsessed with the local legend of the Pumpkin Man. It’s said that he is a sacrificial demon that can be summoned to extract revenge on those that wronged the summoner. She visits a tour of the home of the witch that conjured him all those years ago where she finds her spell book. She convinces a few of her friends to meet one night and do one of the rituals found in the book. The do and accidentally summon Pumpkin Man who begins a bloody rampage through their little town on Halloween. 

      The Pumpkin Man is one of the main reasons I made an order at Scream Team Releasing. I started receiving press releases for the blu and VHS release sometime back and knew this would be a perfect addition to my October. I hate that I missed it during my month long binge but after finally watching it I can safely say that I subconsciously skipped it for a reason. It was a generic Halloween slasher that borrowed heavily from classic films like Pumpkinhead and Hocus Pocus. I really wanted to like it but it was so middle of the road that I found myself watching the clock more than the film itself. The acting in this one is fairly well done. The characters, though cliched, fit the film very well and it gives the cast something to work with. The cast really does fully dedicate themselves to their roles which results in some solid performances for most of the film. However, some scenes felt like the cast was being rushed or some things were changed on the fly resulting in them being unprepared for what was really needed for the scene to work. The story for this one feels inspired by films like Hocus Pocus and Pumpkinhead. We follow a town obsessed with their town’s history especially the story of the Pumpkin Man in a similar manner as the town in Hocus Pocus. We then follow teens who sneak into the home of the witch and steal something that has magical importance just like Hocus Pocus. We then move into the raising a pumpkin-headed demon that kills people much like the classic horror film Pumpkinhead. Honestly, this sounds like a movie I could seriously get behind but it’s the long, drawn out scenes with very little significance to the story that drags this one down. Also, the mythology around this film is just missing something that makes it stand out from other films. I have a feeling that several key moments in the story was changed during filming which didn’t help the story get the big push that it needed. Finally, the film has some bloody moments that fit the film very well. The effects are very well done and the Pumpkin Man looks awesome. The mask does resemble Stingy Jack from Chris Seaver’s Death O’ Lantern but you can only go so many directions with a pumpkin mask. Overall, Pumpkin Man is not a new Halloween classic to toss into your October rotation. I wanted to love it but this was one I struggled to finish. Skip it.